Abstract: The finite element analysis software ABAQUS was used to establish the model of cold metal transition (CMT) arc additive manufacturing single-pass ten-layer 5183 aluminum alloy by the birth and death element method. The distribution and variation of temperature during the additive process were simulated and analyzed, and was verified by experiments. The effects of additive manufacture path (unidirectional path and cross path), interlayer cooling time interval (20,40,60 s) and welding speed (400, 450, 500 mm·min^-1) on the temperature field were studied by simulation. The results show that the variation trend of the thermal cycle curve at one point on the substrate obtained by simulation was basically consistent with the test results in the CMT arc additive manufacturing process, and the relative errors between peak temperature or bottom temperature and test results were both not larger than 8.93%, verifying the accuracy of the model. With the increase of the number of surfacing layers, the peak temperature and the area of the molten pool increased. The unidirectional path additive manufacturing could produce serious heat accumulation at the ending arc of the sample, while the cross path could weaken the heat accumulation effect. The longer the interlayer cooling time interval, the lower the peak temperature at the midpoint of the weld bead; the reduction amplitude gradually decreased with the extension of the cooling time interval. The peak temperature and bottom temperature of weld bead decreased with the increase of welding speed.